The Sports Business Journal is reporting that Most Valuable Promotions is evaluating a foray into MMA dependent on its May 16th show. The move could apply at least a modicum of pressure to the UFC which has been less than stellar with its past several shows.
Nakisa Bidarian told SBJ that if the May 16th event featuring Ronda Rousey taking on Gina Carano is a success it could be “…involved in MMA over the long term.”
MVP has worked with Netflix in the past including the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson event in November 2024. The telecast drew a peak viewership of 65 million concurrent subscribers and overall a total of 60 million homes. In addition, it has put together other boxing events with Netflix including a Katie Taylor-Amanda Serrano headlining fight in July 2025 that drew 6 million global viewers and 4.2 from the U.S.
With the Netflix-MVP relationship seemingly strong, there could be a market for MMA events on the subscription-based platform. Despite the weekly Monday Night Raw events on Netflix, it seems as though the company does not want to get into an episodic relationship with sports. However, its clear that Netflix prefers tentpole events in which it can draw a big viewership (and advertisers/sponsors) for the “one off” events.
The SBJ article notes that if they proceed, MVP would be selective about the events it puts on in MMA.
Payout Perspective:
Although there’s no way that MVP could compete with the UFC, it may act as a disrupter in the MMA space which may make Dana White make quality control adjustments to the UFC product. Social media has not been kind to the last several UFC cards and the release of the much-anticipated White House card disappointed. MVP adding MMA to its portfolio by hiring some older stars plus mixing in some unsigned (or excommunicated talent such as Muhammad Mokaev) may make a dent in the fractured MMA space.
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